McDonalds has not been known for healthy food, but they have been working to change their image for years. They switched away from saturated fats to cook their delicious fries, increased the number of salad options, and expanded their offering of other drinks well beyond soda. Their latest move is to reduce using chicken that have been grown with steroids and now they plan to serve fresh beef that is not frozen.
McDonalds has long been the king of efficiency and consistency, which has included using frozen beef in their burgers. This allows them to own their own beef production facilities around the world and then freeze and ship their meat to locations where it is cooked. Highly cost efficient and it goes a long way to make every burger taste the same, regardless which location you visit.
But times are changing. Customers are demanding better tasting food and McDonalds must compete. So they have been working to shift to a more costly model of using fresh beef in most U.S. locations, about 14,000 in all. It is estimated to cost over $60 million to make the necessary infrastructure upgrades, to properly store the product and adjust the cooking platforms for non-frozen patties.
But will it make a difference?
Would you go to a McDonald's, now that they will serve fresh beef hamburgers?